Winning
by Lady Duck
Summary: The feeling that comes when you know that you truly love someone, and that they love you back, is better than winning any Regional Championship.


**So. The Glee finale. It was amazing! And it inspired me to write this, partly because a friend of mine was feeling blue about the lack of interaction between Quinn and Rachel. But then again I'm sad that there's such a long wait til Season 2. And who knew Sue Sylvester had a heart? I sure didn't! Haha, okay, enough rambling :) here you guys go! Enjoy, and read and review please! Also, **

* * *

Push. Pant. Scream. Push harder.

Each labored breath drew Quinn closer to the release she'd been craving for the last nine months. Each contraction lifted her towards the euphoria of being relieved of carrying an eight pound human being in her stomach. Then life could go back to the way it was pre-pregnancy, when she was popular and the crowds in the hallway parted like the Red Sea for her. But, Quinn had known for a long time that life would never be the same. Not after this. With Mercedes and Puck there, and (God knows how) her mother, the path she was bound to travel didn't seem so terrible anymore.

Winning Regionals would ensure that. Winning Regionals would keep her friends close to her. Another year in glee club meant another chance at running Vocal Adrenaline into the ground where they belonged, especially after the egg episode concerning Rachel.

Rachel. Where was she?

Even through the pain and the heart wrenching pushes, she didn't miss that Rachel didn't follow the rest of the club when she had announced back in the dressing room that her water had broken. Rachel had looked stunned, if anything, and Quinn had just assumed that she would be one of the band of anxious and hyperventilating glee clubbers following her to the hospital. But, she wasn't.

The thought made her panic. Rachel, the one who had been there for her, as discreetly as possible as to not cause any further injury to her reputation, wasn't here now. The moment Quinn needed her and wanted her by her side the most, she was getting her fill of her ex-boyfriend Jesse St. James rocking the stage. It should've made her furious. It should've heightened the screams. But it only made her want to push harder. Rachel would eventually see what she was missing. And she would regret it.

* * *

Rachel could only stare. Vocal Adrenaline was performing Bohemian Rhapsody. Of course. Choose quite possibly one of the most widely-performed songs, combined with the superior, lithe abilities of last year's Regional Champions, and they had another winner. Rachel knew it, and she despised it. The easy formula for a championship would've been easy to grasp, but she, and her other glee club members, had known inside that what they performed didn't matter unless they believed in it.

And they had. The hidden message behind their Journey medley had flowed through their veins as they'd performed. It wasn't win or go home. It was win and die happy knowing that they had. Rachel had known that with Sue on the judging panel, they didn't have a fat chance at placing. But for the first time as a glee clubber, she had been at peace with that fact. As disappointed as she was without a tangible remnant of what the glee club had truly been, the memories were enough. Even though watching Jesse St. James belt the song with perfect pitch and tone was only rubbing it in her face mercilessly.

She would rather have gone to the hospital. Her friend, Quinn, was in the middle of one of the most painful moments of her life, and she was missing it only to torture herself with dreams that had no chance of coming true. She'd wanted to follow Finn and Artie and Tina and Mr. Shue out of the dressing room. She'd wanted to be the one to ride with Quinn and her mother to the hospital, holding Quinn's hand as she contracted. She'd wanted to feel her hand almost break under the pressure, knowing that she was there for her friend.

But the appeal of watching the championship trophy slip away was too much. After their performance Rachel had tried to convince herself, and regain that lost pride, by telling Shelby Corchran that Vocal Adrenaline had lost. The rejection of her offer to teach glee club, and more importantly, her, was enough to force Rachel to rush to the hospital to bring everyone back for the announcement of the Regional Champion. Everyone except Quinn. Rachel could only cast a sorrowful glance towards her way before shooing everyone out of the emergency room.

They would talk later.

* * *

Quinn stood over her baby, musing about how much the tiny thing actually looked like her. More so than Puck, which pleased her a little more than it should have for someone who wasn't going to raise her. But with Puck standing near her, telling her that he'd loved her, and still did, Quinn's heart clenched. It wasn't right. Puck wasn't the one who should've been next to her in the delivery room. The only person who could fill that void was either cheering with ecstasy or brooding with regret and sadness at that moment. Quinn needed her, and she needed her now.

"Puck, give me my cell phone. And get me back to Regionals, now."

The hospital might have something to say about it, but Quinn wasn't going to let anything stop her from leaving and going to her.

* * *

Rachel sat with apprehension in the dressing room, where seconds ago she'd just cried her eyes out. For once, the rest of the glee members disregarded their images and boundaries and sat with her, crying too. Finn hugged her, Santana held her hand, and Mike Chang wrapped his arm around her shoulders. They'd all known how much this had meant to her. More than all of their wills combined. But Rachel didn't want any of their comforts. She wanted Quinn's.

Quinn was the only person in glee club who had truly understood why Rachel needed to win Regionals. And she'd be the only person who could comprehend the heartbreak she was feeling. As a friend she loved, Rachel wanted Quinn to hold her and stroke her hair and tell her that despite the finality of it all, nothing would change. Especially between them. Of all the things that made Rachel's tears continue to fall, it was the possibility that after glee, the strong and close friendship that had blossomed between her and Quinn would only be a faint memory soon. She needed Quinn's hands to hold hers and squeeze them in reassurance that it could never happen. But when?

Rachel got her answer a moment later.

* * *

"Rachel."

The brunette looked up, last minute tears threatening to spill over. "Quinn. Thank God."

"I'm all right. Beth was born at eight pounds and two ounces. She's healthy."

"That's not what I meant, but I'm so relieved," Rachel whispered.

Quinn slowly moved to take a seat next to her friend. She regarded how upset Rachel was with kind hazel eyes and waited. Rachel looked up to meet her gaze and smiled softly.

"I'm sorry, Quinn," she said. "I'm so, so sorry."

"Why didn't you come? I needed you there." Quinn couldn't stop a hint of anger from lacing into her voice.

"I know, and I'm..."

Quinn interrupted quickly. "No, you don't know. I wanted you to be the one in the delivery room holding my hand as I went through hell to deliver a baby that I'm not even keeping. I wanted you to be the one to brush my hair from my forehead and tell me that I did it, and that it was over. I wanted you to stand with me after and look down at her, at the baby girl that, in my heart, I wanted but knew I couldn't have." She couldn't stop her tears from falling now. Rachel needed to see this and understand. She needed to understand why she had needed one of the people she loved most to be there with her during one of the most grueling episodes of her life.

Rachel broke down and held her face in her hands as she sobbed. The echoes of heartbreak in the room were so palpable that Quinn couldn't hold herself back from going to Rachel and crushing her to her chest. Even though it was still sore, holding Rachel in her arms as their tears mingled surprisingly soothed a weight that had been pressing down on her heart. All they could do was cling to each other desperately. And that was all they needed.

As the sobs quieted, neither girl let go of the other. Rachel nestled her head into the crook of Quinn's shoulder as she stroked the brunette's hair slowly. The mother-like gesture warmed Rachel inexplicably, and she wrapped her arms around Quinn's significantly smaller waist. Nothing was said for a moment, and that was fine for both girls. The silent company was enough for the time being.

Rachel broke the embrace to look directly into Quinn's eyes. They mirrored her own red, swollen pair.

"Quinn, we won."

Quinn could only stare at Rachel wistfully, knowing her true meaning. However, being Rachel Berry meant that the statement must be explained.

"I mean, you know I don't mean literally. We didn't even place, even though Jesse's performance was practically emotionless. But, he was flawless in technique and Vocal Adrenaline was able to support him soundly with their backup vocals..."

"Rachel. You're rambling."

Rachel blushed and bit her lip. "I know. What I meant to say was that even though we don't have that stupid trophy as a souvenir, New Directions truly won today. No matter what Coach Sylvester or any of the other judges had to say about it. We won, and that's all that matters. And you're healthy and radiant, as per usual," she added with a quirk of the beaming smile that Quinn had come to love.

Quinn returned it with a genuinely happy grin that made Rachel's heart swell. Everything was right between them.

"So, now that New Directions most likely won't be allowed to continue," Rachel said slowly, "does that mean that you're going to go back to ignoring me again? Like before?"

"Oh, Rachel. Rachel, Rachel, Rachel..." Quinn trailed off listlessly.

Quinn almost giggled when she saw her eyebrows furrow. "What?"

"No. We are friends, and I intend for us to stay that way," Quinn finished.

Rachel's smile was almost blinding as she engulfed Quinn in another hug, one that the blonde girl returned with vigor. The strength surprised her, for having just given birth. Then again, being with Rachel had that effect on people. Anything was possible.

Quinn then surprised Rachel by placing a kiss on her cheek, a soft, deliberate kiss. Rachel's brown eyes widened to the point where she looked strangely like Ms. Pillsbury, but Quinn quickly pushed that thought out of her head. She had tensed when she'd seen Rachel's reaction. Had that been the wrong move? She prayed to God, sincerely, that it hadn't been.

She sighed in relief as Rachel leaned forward and returned the gesture, placing a kiss on her cheek that was even softer, more feather-like. Both girls smiled gently at each other, cherishing the moment where they could share their love for each other genuinely and honestly. No label as lovers or girlfriends, just people who cared and loved each other.

And that feeling, of all, was more precious than any Regional Championship.


End file.
